Eagles pull away in second half to improve to 5-0

“The first half they zoned us up. … We’d been practicing for man to man,” said AE coach Butch Beckham. “So it took a while for us to get it going in the first half.”

The Eagles only led 15-13 at halftime, but when the girls started scoring in the second half, Hillman’s girls broke the zone, which played right into the Eagles’ hands, allowing the undefeated squad to score 26 and 21 points in the third and fourth stanzas.

Free throws also helped the Arenac Eastern ladies distance themselves from the Tigers. Beckham said the Eagles were only 3 for 14 in the first half, but shot 20 for 25 in the second half from the charity stripe.

The win puts the Eagles at 5-0, with a North Star League record of 3-0.

“That was a big game on the road for us,” Beckham said. “We got Posen at home on Friday, that’ll be a tough one for us.”

Taylor Jurek led the offensive charge with 19 points and Maddie Nelson added 11. Danielle Jurek contributed six assists. Leaders on the boards were Maddie Nelson, with nine rebounds, and Brianna Dery, with eight.